# Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2025)

> Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more.

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/tribal%3Apyramid_lake%3A9c574f44cdcb5b89

## Record

- **Collection:** Tribal code
- **Document type:** Tribal code

## Text

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

Post Office Box 256
Nixon, Nevada 89424
Telephone: (775) 574-1000
Fax (775) 574-1054

WATER TEAM MEETING MINUTES
Tribal Chambers ~ Nixon, NV

August 20, 2025, WTM
Members Present:
Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman Edward Ely III, Vice Chairman
Loren Decker, Councilmember Judith Davis, Councilmember
Nicholas Cortez, Councilmember Nathan Dunn, Councilmember
Georgina Wadsworth, Councilmember Della John, Councilmember
Member Absent: Ceira Sampson, Councilmember

CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Wadsworth called the August 20, 2025, Water Team meeting of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal
Council to order at 6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL
Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Council Secretary, took roll call. Councilmember Sampson was absent. All other
Councilmembers were present at roll call, and a quorum was established for this meeting.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Chairman Wadsworth presented the agenda with the following changes: add approval submission of FY25
Historic Preservation Annual Grant to Consent Agenda, add request for approval of Pond A Restoration Plan
- CEMEX under Unfinished Business, remove item #3. Request for approval AIS Ordinance under Unfinished
Business and add a discussion to change the date of the November Water Team meeting.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve the August 20, 2025, Water Team meeting agenda with changes.
Councilmember Cortez seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)
abstentions. MOTION PASSED

CONSENT AGENDA
The following items were contained under the Consent Agenda:

Approval of Kemp Jones July 2025 Invoice

Approval Stetson Engineers Inc April 2025 Invoice 1336-2506 and 1336-01-2506

Approval Stetson Engineers Inc NFWF Invoice #2899-020

Approval Stetson Engineers Inc Induction Well design for Herman Ditch Invoice #2837-024
Approval Submission of FY25 Historic Preservation Annual Grant.

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Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve item #1 through 5 on the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Davis
seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION
PASSED

MINUTES
1. Approval of Minutes.

a. April 16,2025, WTM. No changes and no further discussion.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the April 16, 2025, WTM minutes. Councilmember Decker seconded
the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

b. July 16,2025, WTM. No changes and no further discussion.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve July 16, 2025, WTM minutes. Councilmember Cortez seconded the
motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

PRESENTATION
1. Marble Bluff Project Update. Sarah Horgen, BOR

Ms. Horgen provided an update on the island removal and upper reach project at Marble Bluff. The project
aims to restore fish passage operations and stabilize the riverbank to protect the facility from erosion. The
project location is on the Truckee River, approximately three miles upstream of Pyramid Lake ion Nixon and
includes two design reaches: the island removal project and the upper reach project, each with specific goals
and design features. Key stakeholders include the US Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), US Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS), Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and landowners. The island removal project involves excavating
20,000 cubic yards of material and stabilizing 1,000 feet of riverbank. The upper reach project aims to
stabilize an additional 1,500 feet of riverbank. Design details include a stone toe, fabric encapsulated soil lifts,
and geosynthetic hydraulic structures. Two alternatives were considered: Alternative A (stone toe protection
with bendway weirs) and Alternative B (full channel realignment). Alternative A was selected as the
preferred alternative after a value engineering workshop. The selected alternative aims to protect against
in-stream erosion and overland flow from adjacent agricultural lands. The project is currently in the final
design phase, with construction expected to begin in the fall of 2026. It was recommended this presentation
be given to the Pyramid Lake Fisheries Board of Trustees, which Ms. Horgen agreed they could do. There
were concerns raised of mercury found on the island. Ms. Horgen explained the disposal plan and testing
results. It was asked if the landowners were contacted. Ms. Horgen confirmed they contacted two out of three
landowners.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Request for Approval of Pond A Restoration Plan. Robert Cutter, CEMEX

Mr. Cutter explained they ae updating their request from May for the remaining reclamation of Area A, the

north wall, east wall, and the south pond. There were issues and concerns raised by the Council and the
Water Team. There was collaboration between the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Land

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Management (BLM) regarding those issues, and they collaborated on the solutions and that is what they
will be presenting. In reference to reclamation of Area A, there is the west wall, which is in process, the
north wall is partially in process to provide access to the west wall, but they need final approval for the
reclamation. There are three areas he will be focusing on, the north, east and south pond. First an update on
the west wall where construction has begun. This area has three sections, there is the staging area which is
staked off and is where Q&D Construction, the contractor has established their construction office. This
area will also be used for staging the rock for the project, equipment, and parking, it will be the main safety
zone for anyone entering the site. The rock will be transported across Hill Ranch Road to the west wall.
They had a community meeting with Q&D, CEMEX, and the Wadsworth Community for the traffic control
plan to make the public aware of the plan and answer any questions. They didn’t see Richard James at the
meeting, so they met with him individually to make sure he was comfortable since his homesite is close to
the project. They're starting to stabilize the north road which will be access to the west wall. The next step
will be the west wall repair which will occur over the next two to three weeks when they will start bringing
in rock. They already have 60-70,000 cubic yards already produced at the source site which they will be
bringing over in a couple of weeks so there will be some increased truck traffic. Beyond this there is the
floating conveyor system that will be used which will be put on the lake to help place the rock along the
west wall. Continuing, there were concerns that were raised on the north wall, east wall, and the south
pond but on the north and the south which was sloping. There were areas that didn’t meet the three to one,
particularly above water when it comes to public safety and the lease requirement. On the north wall,
sections B & E were approved but only have a two to one slope. There was a request to find a way to get
them to a three to one slope. There were also questions on the north wall to validate the culvert outlet and
whether there was enough capacity to handle outflow at a maximum level. For the east wall, there were no
concerns, so they are asking for approval for the original proposal. In the south pond, there was the same
sloping issue in SP three, the best they could get was a two to one because they were running out of land
hitting the lease boundary. The recommendation was to consider a proposal that would encroach a little
beyond the lease boundary to get a three to one slope. Provided were designs to show what that would look
like, and this is what they are asking approval for.

To further explain the issues above, Mr. Cutter said areas B & E which didn’t meet the three to one above
water, and they are addressing these. The lease requirement is three to one from crest to toe. For B, they
are planning to do backfill to get to the two to one that they are proposing. Their engineers have redone
and redesigned and stamped it to add an additional 3m700 cubic yards of select fill to that area. With the
addition of selected fill, it will allow them to get to a three to one crest to toe in that area. Section E which is
near the far-left side close to the west wall, the issue was sloping, they had gotten it to a two to one but
went back and relooked at it and they had room to make it a three to one. With the culvert outlet, Robinson
Engineering validated capacity, and there is a document to show the detail where the capacity of this
culvert outlet will be able to transmit up to two times the maximum flow of water.

Vice Chairman Ely said on the first request they said validate capacity of culvert and mentioned it has been
approved by their engineer. Are they asking for approval for that one also? Mr. Cutter said they are asking
for approval of their plan for the north wall which had an alternative for the Council to choose if they
wanted the culvert because the Council wants to know if it had enough capacity and they are validating that
it does.

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Mr. Cutter said he won't address the east wall because everything was fine with it. Moving to the south
pond, the SP3 area was a challenge to get to a three to one because they didn’t have room to work with, the
closest they could get was a two to one. The area is a 313 ft section in the south part of the pond. To get toa
three to one they are proposing to encroach by 12.6 feet beyond the lease boundary. Vice Chairman Ely
asked why couldn’t they go into the pond? Mr. Cutter said if they went into the pond, they would have to do
another backfill situation to put rock into the bottom of the pond and there is no stability. The reason they
did that with the west wall is because of the issues of getting to the slope and stability and they brought the
rock in to really stabilize it for factors of safety. Factors of safety are fine in the south; it's just getting the
slopes for public safety. In reviewing the designs, they found on the north section of the south pond another
50-foot section they want to address, it would require a 4-foot encroachment beyond the lease boundaries
to get to a three to one. This is the change they are making for the south pond.

Further discussion occurred in Executive Session with the Water Team.
2. Request for Approval of Regulations Brochure Changes. No comments received after 30 days posting.

Vice Chairman Ely had a question and concern regarding the closure of the area around the Popcorn Rock
area, itis a good-sized area, to the cattle guard area. His understanding is the new mussel can adapt in the
lake water, true? Adrienne Juby, AIS, and interim Water Quality Manager said it can potentially tolerate
higher salinities with freshwater pulses, so that mixing zone area can extend that far. Justin Jackson, AIS
Technician, added it’s the most chemically vulnerable place in the lake because of the fresh water coming
in, especially during springtime, the high flows coming out, sometimes you will see milky water going all
the way to the Block House, it’s a pretty good sized portion of the lake. Percentage wise, the lake is 27 miles
long and they want to shut one and a quarter mile of that now for boaters and shore fisherman would still
be allowed. Ms. Juby explained that since it’s in the boating closed water section, it only pertains to boating
and doesn’t include fishing or recreational use and because of the classification of boats in the regulations it
includes kayaks, canoes, and any type of water vessel.

Councilmember Decker asked about the location which states, “this closure from the south end of the cattle
guard to the east of Howard’s Bay.” The locals will know where this is but think the area will need to mark
so itis visible because there are no cattle guards there anymore. Councilmember Davis said there is a line
drawn on the road. Ms. Juby said they originally thought if they said a mile and a quarter, nobody would
know what that was, and with the markers being the cliffs at Howards and the cattle guard and she thinks
there is still a sign by the road that says cattle guard. Of course, if you're in a boat you wouldn't see that, but
they could put buoys or some sort of other visible marker.

Councilmember John asked how they came up with a mile and a quarter. Ms. Juby said it’s based off
mapping and looking to where the mixing zone extends, it’s around 2,000 meters but they chose a mile and

a quarter because people recognize that it is easier than meters.

Councilmember Cortez said he looked at the recommendation from Mr. Mitchells, Ranger Supervisor, how
does the department plan to not only educate the public but cover the cost of marketing and the buoys. Ms.

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Juby said the currently make contact with the boaters at the inspection station and educate them on the
clean, drain and drying their boats and are the contact for people with questions about the regulations and
inform them of all the areas that are closed to the public. Mr. Jackson said they also utilize their Facebook
page and share information with the Tribe’s social media page for a wider audience base. There is also their
Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) website as well but, it is the boater’s responsibility to know the regulations,
but they do follow-up with their social media pages. They could also put up additional signage at the boat
launch and do more You Tube videos.

Councilmember John said she ready where they were worried about impacting the fishing guide business
who use the area. They are slowly cutting off all the access to the small boats in the southern end. Mr.
Jackson asked when those comments were received because they were told there were no comments
within the public posting. Brenda Henry, Tribal Secretary said those comments were received from Rutilio
Lara and the Pyramid Lake (PL) Fisheries Board of Trustees (BOT) when the poll vote was forwarded to
them and they were told there were no comments received. Mr. Justin said they would be wanting to
sequester the southern end, which is their goal to prevent people from utilizing it. Councilmember John
said it would impact their revenue, there was no cost analysis done and if they make that decision now that
it’s closed, what would that do to their revenue. Mr. Juby said the Council already closed the Popcorn area
in December. Councilmember John said if there is no consistency in keeping the inspection stations open
then they are defeating themselves. Ms. Juby said if they were to make the inspections mandatory, then
everybody would have to come through them. They believe a lot of people are showing up after hours to
avoid them or when the Rangers are not on duty and they are probably not buying permits either. If the
lake gets the golden mussels, the result will be devastating to the fisheries, and you will lose all the anglers
and recreational users due to the sharp odiferous shells that would be littering the beaches. Making
inspections mandatory would be short term in protecting the lake and the revenue in the long run.

Councilmember Dunn asked why they didn’t mandate stopping at the station for non-motorized hand
launched watercraft but instead are encouraged. Ms. Juby said it’s an enforcement issue. It’s mandatory to
stop at the watercraft inspection station when it’s open for all motorized and or trailered watercraft, when
it’s closed, it’s encouraged that people fill out a self-inspection form. Kayaks, canoes, and little drift boats
are not high risk and so they are encouraged to fill out the self-inspection form. If they had a place online or
a QR code, then people can complete the form that way and they would enter their license plate number so
when a Ranger comes by, they can look them up that way as an additional measure.

Councilmember Decker asked what the hours would be. Ms. Juby said they would be open as long as
possible with the staff they have but they did just get awarded the Tribal Wildlife grant that was supposed
to start in October of this past year. It’s not official in their budget yet but that is for additional staff at the
inspection station. They are applying for another QZMP grant which is on the agenda for this evening and
another golden mussel grant that is coming up. The more staff they have, the more hours they can stay
open. The goal is seven days a week with staggering shifts. Their current hours are from 8:30am to 4:15pm,
Tuesday, through Saturday, but they will shift their hours during the fishing season to an earlier schedule.
They will be staggering people to try and be open seven days a week if it were made mandatory, they
would make sure they had people to cover the whole week. They would also provide a boat wire seal for a
boater that comes off the water, they can get resealed and expedite their inspection.

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Vice Chairman Ely said the earlier the better, he has seen fisherman go through at 6am in the morning, they
are ready to go as soon as the sun comes up and if the inspection station isn’t open, they will pass it by. Ms.
Juby said if they were to make inspections mandatory, they would like to eventually have a gate that would
be coded which the fisherman would get a code from the inspection team, and as long as they plan their
inspection, they would be able to launch at 5am if they want to. If you look at Tahoe, they have strict hours
and people must plan accordingly, then they have a wire seal where they can launch whenever they want. If
they have their permit already, they put their inspection number on it and if they don’t they encourage
them to get it right there on the spot.

Councilmember Dunn asked if they would be accommodating the fisherman when they come in before
sunrise. They could rent lights like they do for Burning Man. Ms. Juby said it’s a safety issue for them to be
out there, it’s dark and an hour before sunrise is 3am. Mr. Jackson added they are grant funded and they
don’t get overtime, so the earlier they open, the earlier they close. Councilmember Dunn said it would be
helpful if they posted their hours. Ms. Juby said they don’t post their hours because it’s not mandatory.
Since the gold mussels were discovered in California, they do get phone calls from people that have been in
the delt who say they are coming to Pyramid Lake, what time are they open so they can get inspected. They
are seeing an increase in boaters from the delta because of the closures in California but they do reach out
to them and try to do the right thing, specifically the anglers.

Mr. Jackson said when they first presented before the Council in December asking permission to close
Popcorn beach to launch, he provided a distribution map of the golden mussel occurrences that were
known. They were originally discovered using artificial substrate samplers which is their current sampling
method and are effective to the golden mussel. The mussels were originally discovered in late October and
with a current map, it shows the distribution is much larger and is spreading throughout the Bay Area
through the California aqueduct. The first they presented there were a dozen lakes that were either
changed regulations, instituted mandatory inspection programs, mandatory quarantines or just shut down
completely. Now that number from a dozen is over 40 lakes in California that have instituted mandatory
quarantines and mandatory inspection programs. There are a lot of other lakes doing it as well because
they recognize how harmful this species could be should it get established in their lakes and do it on less
resources.

Randa Mitchell, in the audience, asked for more information on the seal. Ms. Juby said it hooks up to the
trailer and the boat, if they launch it breaks and there is no way to reconnect it. Tahoe uses them to reseal
boats, after an inspection they get sealed, they go to launch, an inspector checks the seal and ifit’s still
intact they are allowed to launch. The inspection station would check the seals and if they are good, they
will get a receipt which gets entered into the system and they get a code to launch. At the end of the day, if
they show the valid permit, they would reseal them at the station so when they come back, it will expedite
their inspection. If this is passed they will make it happen with the personnel they have, they have two
additional technicians that have applied who look promising for hire and they will be able to increase hours
and will be able cross train within the department in case of emergencies, sick calls or for anyone to fill in
from the department.

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Chairman Wadsworth asked of all these other areas that boats are launching from, do they know the times
they are allowed to be on those waters. Ms. Juby said it varies among the waters. Some may have moors
that boats can stay on, others might have hours where they must come off the water. Chairman Wadsworth
said because the Council are the ones that have to make these decisions, it might be worth noting that if we
need to change the boat launch times, it might be an idea because with one Ranger, enforcement is the
biggest issue and they might have to adjust those times to sunrise because right now they are catering to
their clientele when they should be catering to the lake and keeping the lake is their primary purpose.

Councilmember Davis would like to see a workshop or a sit down with the PL Fisheries, the Rangers and
the Natural Resources and anyone else involved so everyone can comment. Ms. Mitchell said it would have
to be soon since she would need at least a month for printing, and the cost of the changes will increase but
it will depend on what is approved and the changes to be made. Preferably before September 1, 2025, for
print or else it won't go to print Vice Chairman Ely asked if they don’t make the changes before September
1st, is it set in stone they can’t change them in the middle of the season. He doesn’t see it, they do it at Tahoe,
if they make changes to their regulations and people don’t like it, then they don’t show up. We can print
them when we're ready to print. It was done when they closed Popcorn Beach in December when they
closed the boat launch but not the fishing. And he agrees with Councilmember Davis that sometimes the left
doesn’t know what the right is doing, and they are all trying to deal with the same concern including
enforcement. He’s asked the Ranger at one time how many citations were written for a bota that wasn’t
inspected, and the answer was, “I’m not trained in inspecting,” which wasn’t what he asked. If they don’t
have an inspection, then they should be cited. All departments need to get together before they approve
this.

Councilmember Decker asked if they could temporarily shut down that area that is requested for this
upcoming season to see how it goes. At least the area will be protected for all the boats that are going by
their station and not getting checked and they aren’t taking a risk, then they publicly put it on their social
media pages and do more outreach. He is comfortable with that, and they don’t have to worry about this
season. Ms. Juby said it creates enforcement as well because you can’t know that boats aren’t going past
that imaginary boundary and who is going to tell them not to, and then at that point, it’s too late because if
they have golden mussels on board or other invasive species, then they’re already there and it doesn’t
matter that they get cited $250 fine, the damage is already done. To make inspections mandatory, there will
still be people that will try to launch from the beaches and launch without the inspection but there are
ways to track those boaters and they would work with the Rangers and beach monitors to make sure
everybody knows how to look for either their inspection receipt, which they tell them to leave on their dash
and they also have a WID app that stores all the information electronically where they can search their
registration or their vehicle/trailer plate to wee whether they have been inspected. If they don’t have one,
then they can be cited.

Councilmember Davis asked if this had to go to the Law-and-Order Committee because you would have to

change the code to increase those fees, correct? Chairman Wadsworth said they are not changing the fine
schedule, just increasing the permit costs.

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Without knowing the Ranger Supervisor’s schedule (only one Ranger) and with Burning Man occurring at
the same time, not sure what his schedule would be. Councilmember Davis agreed with Vice Chairman Ely’s
comment about instead of rushing to change, get the information to all parties and have a sit down so
everyone is in agreement.

Councilmember Cortez asked if that is the case, could they pass everything that isn’t involving the issues
discussed and then work on the boating sections with the parties involved because the other sections are
the drones and the permit fees.

Ms. Mitchell reminded the Council that if they are going to approve changes they should do it all at once
because that is where we get our savings, they typically order 16 boxes at a time, the books are only given
out at the AIS station, the Ranger Station, the Museum and Tribal Admin. Ms. Juby asked if they would be
able to provide a digital copy on October 1st and then have physical print later if the mandatory inspections
get approved. Ms. Mitchell said the fisherman will be looking at the regulations because if they get cited,
they will go to the judge, and he will be looking for the brochure. Ms. Juby said they ran out of physical
copies of last season and the Ranger Station refused to give them more but it’s also online.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to table for a workshop with Rangers, Natural Resources, Pyramid Lake
Fisheries, and others who should attend.

Councilmember Davis said they could just table and the Chairman can coordinate a meeting dependent on
the Ranger Supervisor's schedule.

Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)
abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Chairman Wadsworth will contact the departments.

NATURAL RESOURCES. Donna Noel, Natural Resources (NR) Director

1. Request for Approval Inter-Disciplinary Team Request Streetsfilms Video Request. Johannes
Meier and Paul Hartmann

Councilmember Cortez asked if there were comments from the IDT since the comments were not attached
to the report. Ms. Noel said it was approved by the IDT, but the main comments were about who would he
be talking to and where did he plan on filming. Billie Jean Guerrero, Museum Director, has some ideas for
him along with stipulations about filming in public areas. Councilmember Cortez asked if there were any
comments regarding a waiver of the fee. Chairman Wadsworth said he didn’t recall any comments about
the waiver.

Mr. Meier and Mr. Hartmann were on zoom from Germany. Mr. Meier explained they are producing a show
called Nevada, the True Wild West, a 52-minute piece for ARTE, a European Cultural Broadcaster,
documenting exploring Nevada beyond cliches, focusing on heritage and resilience. The central part of the
film will be Pyramid Lake and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. They wish to portray the Tribe’s living
relationship with the lake, from fishing traditions to the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, to the connection
between culture, identity and environment. They plan to film respectfully with Tribal members, ideally

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following one or two voices as they fish and share stories of community and daily life. They are a small
crew of three to four people with minimal equipment, filming for four to five days, as this is a noncommercial, educational public television production, and are requesting a waiver of the filming fees. They
are committed to following all Tribal protocols, giving credit, and sharing a preview of the same segment
before broadcast.

Mr. Hartman explained they reached out to the Museum Director via email and talked to Ms. Guerrero on
the phone to discuss the kind of people they could include in the documentary, and she came up with some
ideas. They are hoping to have a fishing guide as part of the story and a traditional leader or spiritual
leader. They have reached out to Dean Barlese.

Councilmember Dun recommended including someone from the PL Fisheries as part of this project for a
perspective from modern times to provide a history and how they are providing for the fish in the lake.

Vice Chairman Ely asked if this would be for profit. Mr. Meier said the broadcaster asked them to do the
film; they are not making a profit but are getting paid to make this program and travel here to film.
Chairman Wadsworth said their program is something like our version of PBS.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve the film request to include a waiving the film fee. Councilmember
John seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions.

2. Request for Approval Submission of Quagga and Zebra Mussel Prevention and Monitoring with
Resolution. Adrienne Juby and Justin Jackson, AIS

With no further discussion, the following motion was made.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve submission of the Quagga and Zebra Mussel Prevention and
Monitoring with Resolution. Councilmember Decker seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero
(0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL XXX-25 QUAGGA AND
ZEBRA MUSSEL PREVENTION AND MONITORING GRANT

Chairman Wadsworth stepped out of chambers at 7:57 p.m. Vice Chairman Ely assumed control of the
meeting.

3. Request for Approval Submission of BIA Attorney Fee Grant with Resolution. Donna Noel, NR Director
With no further discussion, the following motion was made.
Councilmember Guerrero motioned to approve the submission of the BIA Attorney Fee grant with Resolution.

Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)
abstentions. MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL OXX-25 BIA ATTORNEY FEE GRANT

WATER TEAM

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1. Kemp Jones. Chris Mixson, Kemp Jones
Mr. Mixson requested an Executive Session for a discussion on CEMEX and the Atrium Apartments.
Chairman Wadsworth returned to Council chambers at 7:58 p.m.

TROA “NAVY WATER’ LITIGATION. Mr. Mixson said they are still working on the settlement agreement
with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the split of the Navy water 80/20 as approved by the Council in
concept at the end of last year. As discussed before, there have been some mapping discrepancies with the
Navy water parcels of land that were previously irrigated, and Mr. Richards shop has been working on
some of their own mapping. They have discussed it with the Bureau of Reclamations (BOR) and are still in
those discussions. They are hoping to put some of the burden of resolving the mapping discrepancies on
the BOR and TCID. There is no reason for Stetson Engineers to spend the time and resources to do the
mapping exercise.

CEMEX. The Council received the presentation from Mr. Cutter, CEMEX earlier, further discussion in
Executive Session.

FEDERAL WATER MASTER/TROA ADMINISTRATOR. There was motion filed by a water rights owner in
the Carson River Basin who owns surface water, and they are upset with the Watermaster and filed a
motion to have the two deputies Watermasters disqualified because they think the Watermaster is being
biased against them. It’s a neighbor dispute, two ranchettes in Carson Valley which used to be one big
ranch, but they subdivided it by building homes in 30 acres, and they still want to irrigate, and they are
having a ditch dispute. They are unhappy with the Carson Watermaster who is the same person on the
Truckee River, his name is Chad Blanchard for the Orr Ditch Decree on the Truckee and the Alpine decree
on the Carson River. He has a deputy Watermaster, his name is Dave Watson. They work with them closely
and have a pretty good relationship with them. There is a separate additional deputy Watermaster on the
Carson River named Wilcox (last name). He doesn’t expect this person to be successful; he read the motion
and doesn’t think there is any actual bias. They don’t show anything to demonstrate bias other than not
getting what they want. The Tribe is not a party because they don’t own any Carson River decreed water
rights. He would like to see if the Tribe could file a letter to Judge Du in support of the Watermaster, Dave
Waffen, the deputy Watermaster who they work with very closely and have a good relationship with. He
doesn’t it would need an approval of the Council but if they decide to do that, he could work with the
Chairman on whether to file a letter.

TROA JOINT PROGRAM FISH CREDIT WATER. No update but he is still working with the California
Department of Water Resources staff attorney on developing a formal written guidelines for how the State
of California will manage their joint program fish credit water which is carved from the Tribe’s fish credit
water. They had hoped to have a draft ready, but they are still going through red lines. Hopefully, they will
have something for approval by the end of this year.

ATRIUM APARTMENTS. He will discuss it more in Executive Session, but they are shifting the focus in
terms of the legal research for potential legal claims. The State has made a formal finding of alleged

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violation; there are two of them which is included in the Council’s packet. One is directed at the City of
Sparks, and the other is directed at the owner of the Atrium Apartments. The findings of alleged violations
are formal factual findings that NDEP is making, laying out what they know about the violation and then
issuing an order that says here are the steps they want them to take. The order directs them by close of
business on August 21st to provide an explanation of any additional factors and failures that occur that have
not already been provided to the district and to provide the economic benefit, if any realized by not
complying with the relevant statutes about this discharge. The economic benefit must include any savings
realized from failure to assess the full extent of the storm sewer lines impacted by the discharge of the
waste. This means, by reading between the lines, they’re telegraphing they will be fined based on what the
economic benefit to them was by not complying with the law. Also, by close of business they are to provide
a plan for a study to be conducted to identify and describe environmental impacts resulting from the
discharge and a plan for how they are going to prevent this from happening in the future. There were more
requirements but skipping to the last one, by close of business August 215 they are to coordinate an
informal administrative meeting with NDEP to show why NDEP should not seek civil penalties against
them. If they want to appeal to the State Environmental Commission, then that will start a more formal
trial. They have a meeting with NDEP on September 4, 2025, to go over the findings and order. This is the
state side of proceedings, if the Council wants to talk about the Tribe’s legal options they will discuss in
Executive Session.

Councilmember John said she saw a news article where CEMEX was fined. Was that the $2 million fine and
they decreased it to $370,000? Mr. Mixson said yes it was. It’s all upstream, CEMEX and EPA asked the
Tribe if they wanted to do a supplemental environmental Project, it went through the motions, but they
couldn’t find anything that was going to work because of the limitations that EPA put on it. So, they went
upstream and found somebody, in theory it’ll help Pyramid Lake but it’s not going to directly benefit
Pyramid Lake, it’s going to be a wetlands project upstream.

2. Stetson Engineers Inc. Allan Ricards, Stetson Engineers Inc.
Mr. Richards report covers the month of July 2025.

ANALYSES OF POTENTIAL STREAMFLOW CAPTURE BY PUMPING WELLS. In the interest of time, Mr.
Richards is only providing an update on this item. Mr. Richards had this discussion with the Council at the
last water meeting regarding one well that the City of Fernley pumps water from. They did an analysis on
the City of Fernley’s well number 13 and have estimated that pumping from that well is capturing stream
flow of the Truckee River. They have been doing this analysis for a while looking at the effects of pumping
wells upstream from the Reservation all the way to the State line on the Truckee River including Steamboat
Creek. They are also doing an analysis of pumping wells along the Carson River. A map titled “Potential
Capture of Surface Water rights by Groundwater Pumping,” was taken directly from a report the Nevada
Division of Water Resources put out in 2023, the full report is included for the Council. A map of the
different basins identified by the Nevada State Engineer’s office, the color-coded map shows the different
levels of potential capture of surface water rights by groundwater pumping. The map shows the Truckee
River upstream from Pyramid Lake and the Carson River upstream from Lahontan, to include the subbasins boundaries and numbers. Up the river from the Reservation’s boundary there is basin 83, 87, 91 and
then 88 and 89 near Washoe Lake. These sites are red which signifies the State’s determination, about

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3,000-acre feet of surface water is being captured by pumping wells within one mile of the Truckee River
and one mile within Steamboat Creek. The same is true with the Carson River Basin. This is just a portion of
the State’s map, they looked at the entire State of Nevada the same way, basin by basin and the potential for
groundwater pumping to be capturing surface water rights. They are specifically looking at decree water
rights. For the Truckee River, the pumping wells are capturing Orr Ditch Decreee surface water and in the
Carson River, they are capturing Alpine Decree surface water. This is all included in the 2023 report and
encourages the Council to read this report which covers various maps and analysis on wells. Stetson is
focusing on the map that shows potential capture of surface water by groundwater pumping. They
downloaded well records from the State Engineer’s office and plotted all the wells within a one-mile buffer
of those streams. In the Truckee River Basin, they are looking at a large number of the wells on the basin
that are owned and operated by TMWA and Washoe County. They are also looking at the Tahoe Reno
Industrial Park General Improvement District and the wells on the Carson River, a large number owned and
operated by Gardnerville Ranchos General Improvement District, Silver Springs Mutual Water Company
and Gardnerville Town Water Company where the results are the same as the analysis they did on the City
of Fernley’s well. They are capturing about 50% of the water pumped from those wells over a two-year
period is surface water from the Truckee River, Steamboat Creek, or the Carson River. It’s a significant
proportion of the well water that is river water being captured by those wells.

Chairman Wadsworth said this is new territory but this something the Council and the Water Team have
looked at, but they are now just getting the scientific facts on it. Vice Chairman Ely thinks all along they
knew they were pulling surface water. Chairman Wadsworth added if you're pumping out of the ground,
how is it being refilled. The only water source in the area is the river.

Mr. Richards said the Truckee River system is different from the other river systems because it is fed by
large amounts of snowmelt runoff. Stetson Engineers has been working for the San Carlos Apache Tribe in
Arizona for as long as they been working for the Tribe. They have the same issue but have no snow melt or
upstream reservoirs and their river gets depleted to almost nothing after the farmers upstream diverts the
water into the canal systems or turn on their wells.

Chairman Wadsworth said in regard to next steps, they shut them down for a week, no pumping to see
what happens.

Mr. Richards said they will use the analysis, the State Zone analysis, on any new appropriations that are
filed for groundwater. Years ago, they were looking at the Carson River system and protesting every change
application that was filed in the Carson River for groundwater, whether new or a change application. They
were just blanket-protesting all of them. At the time, the State didn’t recognize or refused to recognize
there was a connection between groundwater pumping and the river flow. That was 15 years ago and now
the State recognizes it. They’re publishing items like this so the Water Team can use it to keep track of all
new appropriations or transfer applications involving groundwater wells within a one-mile buffer of the
stream and use them on a strong basis to have those denied. It would be beneficial to have a groundwater
model built for the Truckee River. The USGS and DRI have done a lot of groundwater modeling for mod
flow and model grid but doesn’t think a groundwater model has ever been built for the Truckee River
above the Reservation. Mr. Mixson might even be able to do some legal analysis, but it feels like a door is

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being opened with the State maps using the title of potential capture of surface water rights by
groundwater pumping but they are being clever by not putting the wells on their maps of the buffer zone.
Luckily, the Water Team found the data they used to color their maps so they know who the well owners
are, how much they are allowed to pump and can analyze and estimate how significant those impacts are.
There may be some legal basis to go after some of those existing well pumpers. Vice Chairman Ely
commented they purposely didn’t create a groundwater model.

Councilmember John asked how the water importation projects that Nevada has created are going to
impact groundwater. Would it show up on these types of maps? For example, taking Eastern Nevada water
to Las Vegas and Washoe County to Reno.

Mr. Richards said TMWA’s project doesn’t have the potential to impact the Tribes water resources because
the basin they are doing that project in; there is another basin to the east and then there is the Pyramid
Lake Basin. There are a couple of basins in between and the impacts of their project will be small and with
their own basin.

3. Approval of changing the November Water Team Meeting date. Chairman Wadsworth said the
Water Team meeting is on November 17* and the Special Council meeting is on November 19*. However,
that is also NCAI and with the possibility of not having a quorum, he would like to move it to November
12th, the week prior, the day after Veterans Day.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve to reschedule the November 17, 2025, Water Team meeting to
November 12, 2025. Vice Chairman Ely seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed
with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Councilmember Cortez motioned to move into Executive Session. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion.
Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Tribal Council
moved into Executive Session at 8:36 p.m.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to move out of Executive Session. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion.
Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Tribal Council
moved out of Executive Session at 9:09 p.m.

After discussion in Executive Session the Council made the following motion.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the revised Pond A Restoration Plan. Councilmember Davis
seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION
PASSED

Councilmember Guerrero commented on trucks using the roadway on the Reservation line behind his house,
there was a semi carrying a conveyor belt which might have been pulled in by the road by CEMEX. They are
utilizing the road. Councilmember Wadsworth said they don’t have a right of way, and they can do the same

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thing which occurred at Olinghouse. Chairman Wadsworth said he has signs in his office and will have
maintenance go out there to post. Councilmember Davis said when that happened at Olinghouse Road, the
Chairman had equipment brought down and shut the road down, they blocked it with equipment.

ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Tribal Council, Councilmember Cortez made a motion to adjourn the
meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Dunn. Votes taken were all in favor, motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 9:14 p.m.

Submitted by,
FAW feu.
Tribal Council Secretary

CERTIFICATION

The foregoing minutes were adopted by the Pyramid Lake Tribal Council, governing body of the Pyramid
Lake Paiute Tribe, at a meeting duly held on the 177# day of September 2025, having eight (8) members
present, constituting a quorum, by the vote of six (6) FOR and zero (0) OPPOSED, with one (1)

ABSTENTIONS.
Minutes attested and concurred by: LZ vA

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/tribal%3Apyramid_lake%3A9c574f44cdcb5b89. Public record. Not legal advice.